During ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday, legendary former Alabama coach and current ESPN college football analyst Nick Saban weighed in on the changing landscape of college football.

Saban discussed name, image and likeness (NIL), specifically how it creates distractions with players.

“The money, and the people who give it, have had an impact. But I also think there is an unintended consequence of how it affects players,” Saban said. “Players’ commitment to development, players’ commitment to team – all those things have been affected a little bit. I’m glad that the players make money, I’m not talking about that. But it’s how they get the money that creates a lot of distractions.”

Nearly $80 million in NIL deals have been approved since June.

Saban — a seven-time national championship coach who led Alabama to six titles and LSU to one — believes players receiving large NIL payments “creates a more fragile psychological balance in terms of [players’] ability to have consistency in performance, which now becomes a challenge for the coach to be able to frame things out in a way where you continue to motivate guys.”

“It is much more challenging now than it was five years ago, or three years ago even, when I was coaching,” Saban said. “So, I think that has an impact on consistency and performance, and that’s why we’ve seen some ups and downs with teams this year – which has affected guys getting fired.”

Nine FBS coaches have been fired since Week 1 – Brent Pry (Virginia Tech), DeShaun Foster (UCLA), Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State), Sam Pittman (Arkansas), Trent Bray (Oregon State), James Franklin (Penn State), Trent Dilfer (UAB), Billy Napier (Florida) and Jay Norvell (Colorado State).

–Photo courtesy of Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images